


a letter about love

by ThisIsAGoodSign



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Inspired by The Half of It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24115354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsAGoodSign/pseuds/ThisIsAGoodSign
Summary: Korra wasn't expecting to say yes when Mako asked her to help him write a love letter, but then again she wasn't expecting to fall for the girl he likes either.-A Korrasami HSAU inspired by The Half of It
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 96
Kudos: 390





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't seen The Half of It yet you should because it's really good, and the circumstance fit these characters so well I just had to write this.
> 
> Enjoy :)

If there was one thing Korra was grateful for in this world it was the pitching machine at her school. It was a piece of junk that took at least ten minutes of adjustments to throw a strike, but being the captain of Republic High’s softball team her coach let her use it whenever she wanted as long as she locked up the shed after.

Like now, as she let out her frustrations on the empty field about an hour after the rest of her team left. Her hands were starting to hurt from her grip on the bat, but she didn’t stop until she heard her name called from somewhere behind her.

She turned to see Bolin jogging towards her, dragging his huge baseball bag behind him as he waved at her.

“Korra, what are you still doing here?” he asked when he finally reached her.

Korra shrugged and started taking off her batting gloves. She started walking to pick up balls from the outfield, Bolin following close behind her.

“Mako said he wanted to talk to you about something, he went to go look for you and said he would get me when he was done. Do you know where he went?”

“I haven’t seen him,” Korra replied as she dropped the last of the balls in the bucket and headed over to put everything away.

Bolin stuck around for a while, helping her clean up before taking a seat by the bleachers. Korra waved to him with a smile before dragging her stuff in the direction of her house, too tired to wait much longer and hear what Mako had to say. She made it about halfway down across the field before she heard her name being called again.

“Korra! Hey, wait up.”

Korra turned to see Mako jogging towards her, a piece of paper in his hands and looking a little out of breath. She stopped and waited for him to catch up, dropping her bag beside her as he caught his breath.

“So you’re a girl.”

“Great observation,” Korra teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I need your help with something,” he shifted back and forth slightly and looked down fidgeting with the piece of paper in his hand. When Korra didn’t say anything in return, just gave him a questioning look, he let out a breath and continued, “so there’s this girl and she’s really pretty and probably out of my league but I wrote her this letter to explain how I feel, the thing is I’m not really good at writing or feelings in general so if you could give me advice or something on what I girl would like I’d be so so grateful.”

He gave Korra a pleading look and held out the letter to her. Korra considered it for a moment before she gave in and grabbed the letter.

“Who’s the lucky girl?”

“It’s, um, Asami Sato. She’s in our math class.”

Korra’s eyes went wide and then she doubled over laughing. “She is most _definitely_ out of your league,” she managed between bouts of laughter. Mako just glared at the ground as he waited for her to calm down.

“Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll try not to judge till I hear your writing.”

“Actually on second thought maybe you shouldn’t--” Mako stammered trying to reach for the paper. Korra spun and held it out of his reach as she started to read. She could barely contain a few snickers as she read it and eventually Mako gave up on trying to grab it back.

“Mako this sounds more like a report than a love letter.”

“I know, that’s why I need your help,” he huffed, flapping his arms about, “I really like her but I’m awful with the whole words thing.”

“I can see that. You wrote ‘it was a bit cloudy today but may be sunny later’ and never once mentioned wanting to go out with her,” Korra laughed.

Mako groaned into his palms.

“It’s not completely unsalvageable, the part about her hair is nice.”

“Bolin said that about Opal the other day, I just copied it down.”

“Wow, you really are bad at this aren’t you?”

“Look will you help me or not?” Mako insisted, growing more frustrated by the moment.

“I’ll think about it,” Korra replied, folding the note and sticking it in her back pocket.

“Hey I didn’t say you could have that.”

“There is no way I’m giving you this back, if you gave it to her she would probably go running for the hills,” Korra laughed, “even if I decide not to help you I’m not gonna let that happen.”

Mao frowned, “I didn’t think it was _that_ bad.”

Korra gave him a disbelieving look and grabbed her bag. “You better go get your brother before he passes out on the bleachers again.”

Mako looked over at Bolin, waved at Korra with a grateful smile and turned back around.

-

It wasn’t until she saw Mako and Bolin in the hall the next day that Korra realized she hadn’t thought over Mako’s proposal. So she did what any responsible sixteen year old would do: turned around and power walked away from them before they could spot her. The only flaw to that plan being the person standing right behind her that she proceeded to crash right into.

“Oh shoot, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to I--” Korra stopped mid ramble as she looked down to see wide green eyes framed by glossy curtains of black hair.

Asami Sato. Great.

Of course, not only had she forgotten about Mako’s letter but she practically mauled the girl he wrote it for. An action that left her in a rather awkward position with her hands planted on either side of Asami’s face and her body sprawled across the other girl. Korra quickly scrambled away from her, a blush climbing up her neck as she apologized again.

“Don’t worry about it, Korra,” Asami smiled as she reached around to collect the papers that had scattered in the fall.

“You know my name?”

“Of course, you’re in AP Biology with me and you, Mako and Bolin sit right in front of me in math.” Asami replied with that same small smile, “plus we had two classes together last year and one the year before.”

“Wow, uh, you’ve got a good memory.”

“You’re pretty memorable.”

“Hardly. You’re the one always answering teacher’s questions and that’s in the running for valedictorian.”

“Seems you also have a good memory, though I’d have to be a fool to forget the Avatar,” Asami joked.

It was a dumb nickname her team gave her after a particularly good game for her, but she didn’t know it had spread enough for Asami Sato to know.

At Korra’s shocked look Asami winked -- actually _winked_ \-- and then got to her feet and waved with a “see you later, Korra.”

Korra sat there, dumbstruck, for a moment before shaking herself out of it and grabbing her bag from where it had landed a little ways away from her. Fortunately, class was close to starting so not many people saw her little failure and bi panic; less fortunately, she had about two minutes to get to her history class across the school before Tenzin marked her late.

So Korra practically ran down the halls, trying to shake the image of green eyes and a red smile from her brain.

-

Korra couldn’t concentrate. That wasn’t an uncommon occurrence per se, but she usually at least tried to pay attention in science. It wasn’t easy for her by any means but it was more fun than any other subjects, which is the reason it’s the only advanced class she decided to take. But her eyes kept drifting to the front left corner of the room where a certain genius was sat, diligently taking notes as Ms Kya lectured about fish anatomy or something, Korra wasn’t really sure. 

Asami had her hair pulled around one shoulder, doing that flowy thing it always did, and she’d tap her pen lightly on her notebook when she was thinking about something.

Korra wasn’t usually the type of person to pay attention to things like this, but after what happened that morning and what Mako had told her the other day, Asami was all she could think about. But it was her last class of the day, so soon she could crash on her bed for a while before practice. She crossed her arms on her desk to rest her chin on, and made a conscious effort to keep her head angled straight towards the front of the room and at least pretend to be paying attention to the lecture before her.

When it was finally time to pack up Korra felt her shoulders sag with relief, still she took extra time to pack up her things so she wouldn’t risk bumping into Asami on her way out. Her plan seemed to backfire, though, when Ms Kya called her towards her desk when they were the only two left in the room.

“You alright today Korra?” Kya asked with what looked to be genuine concern, “I could feel your anxiety from across the room all through class.”

“No I’m fine, just a lot on my mind I guess,” Korra rubbed the back of her neck and looked down.

“I could see that, your eyes were darting around like a ping pong ball when I was explaining cell communication.”

 _So that’s what she was talking about,_ Korra thought.

“Is it something to do with you and Miss Sato?”

Korra froze. She didn’t think she was that obvious, or at the very least not transparent enough for a teacher to notice after one class. Kya just laughed at Korra’s gaping fish look and took pity on her after a few moments.

“You fell on her right outside of my classroom Korra, plus you looked over at her and then buried her face in your hands at least four times in the last hour.”

Korra groaned, not for the first time today, and decided then that she would rather the world swallow her up right there than deal any more with this day. Kya smirked at her like she knew something Korra didn’t and put a hand on Korra’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine kid, just don’t let it distract you in my class again,” Kya joked.

She then gestured for Korra to leave, which she gladly obliged to. In all honesty Korra had no idea what had just happened.

-

When Korra saw Mako walking over from the baseball field after her practice was over she acted completely on instinct. Her instincts this time weren’t to run away, no instead she waved him over. She was starting to think it was her fault she got into messes like this.

“I’ll do it.”

_Wait what?_

“Your letter, I’ll write it for you,” Korra had no idea what she was doing.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean even I should be able to come up with something better than what you wrote.”

Mako laughed lightly at that. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Korra smiled a bit too wide, trying to bite back her regret.

“It’ll just be this once, I promise,” Mako assured her. Somehow Korra doubted that, but she nodded anyway and shook his hand when he offered it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra struggles to find the right words.

It didn’t take Korra very long to realize that she wasn’t much better with words than Mako. Not for lack of trying of course, her floor was now littered with crumpled attempts. It didn’t help that she had to make it sound like Mako. The guy wasn’t exactly the most touchy-feely person, but Korra refused to emulate his weather report style of writing. She may not be a poet herself but she should be able to do this. So she took a deep breath and started writing again.

_ Asami, _

_ I know you’re probably busy and out of my league and-- _

That wouldn’t work. Korra groaned and dropped her head on the table. The last time she had a crush was in freshman year when she thought she liked Mako -- yes that Mako, if you thought this situation couldn’t get any more awkward -- so she didn’t really have much experience in this area. And she had no idea what she would want if she got a letter. Honestly if Korra got poetry or philosophical quotes she’d probably set it on fire. And flowery dramatic declarations didn’t really seem like something Asami would like. No she probably gets that all the time. When Korra started writing again it ended up coming out as more of a rant about just that.

_ Asami, _

_ In all honesty I have no idea what I’m doing. I wrote this over about fifteen different times and nothing seemed quite right. I’m sure you already know how beautiful you are. If people don’t tell you every day about how pretty your emerald eyes are or how nice that soft swish thing that your hair does is _ _ — _ _ well they should. And I know for a fact that you’re sick of people telling you that you’re a genius. Even if it is completely true. _

_ But there’s also no way I’m gonna talk about myself in a letter to you. I’m hardly interesting enough for that. So where does that leave me? That’s why this was so hard. Talking to you in person would probably be easy, because you make everything so comfortable and simple, but there’s no way I’m gonna do that. So here we are. I’m just gonna hope this isn’t as cheesy and cliche as I’m sure it is (I swear I tried for it not to be) and if you don’t want to go out with me I wish that this at least made you smile. _

Korra almost wrote her own name at the bottom. She was halfway through the K when she had to turn it into an M. Hopefully Asami would just think Mako smudged it or something, but that wasn’t the issue. She didn’t even think about it being from Mako as she wrote it. While it did feel better than her other attempts Korra was afraid it sounded too much like her. It was certainly sincere and she was almost sure that Asami would appreciate it, at the very least. She just wasn’t sure that Mako would. But when she looked at her phone it was almost 2 a.m. and she just couldn’t try another draft, so she folded it and put it in an open envelope to give to Mako tomorrow morning and tried to forget about it all as she drifted off to sleep.

-

Korra decided to seal the envelope before she gave it to Mako. She was running on about four hours of sleep and two cups of coffee so she just couldn’t deal with his criticism this morning. So when she saw him trying to lean casually against his locker before math she shoved the letter into his chest with more force than strictly necessary and mumbled a “there you go.”

“Thanks Korra, but this is sealed. Can I not read it first?”

“Just trust me alright, it’ll be fine.”

“Some one’s grumpy this morning.”

“You’re grumpy all the time, and I was the one up all night writing a stupid love letter for you.”

“Geez, you really didn’t — ”

“Yeah, yeah I know I’m a great friend and you owe me coffee and sweets for like a year.”

Mako chuckled but didn’t disagree. “What do I do with it though?”

“I don’t know, maybe give it to her,” Korra replied sarcastically.

“No shit, but how?”

“Slip it in her bag if you’re too chicken to talk to her directly.”

“I’m not — ”

Before Mako could finish Bolin appeared and draped his arm over his brother’s shoulder.

“Whatcha guys talkin’ about?”

“Mako is — ”

“Going to kill you if you finish that sentence,” Mako cut Korra off, shooting her a glare and clamping his hand over her mouth. She just raised an eyebrow at him, and then smirked under his hand before licking it. “Ew! You are the worst in the morning.”

Korra bared her teeth at him childishly, while Bolin looked between them suspiciously. “There’s something you’re not telling me and I’m gonna find out what it is.”

They didn’t have time to discourage Bolin, though, because the door swung open and soon they were being ushered into class along with twenty or so other students. They took their seats at the table near the wall, Kora and Mako trying their best not to react when Asami sat with her back turned to them a few feet away. There was some childish blubbering, hushed whispers of encouragement from Korra and some very confused looks from Bolin, before Mako turned and stuffed the letter in Asami’s bag. The room was still humming with movement and activity as they settled into their seats so Asami didn’t seem to notice.

“Seriously, what the hell are you two up to?” Bolin tried to whisper across the table at them, earning him a glare from the teacher and a few hushes from students. He never was one for subtlety.

“I’ll tell you later Bo, it’s hard to explain,” Korra replied, far softer than he had.

Bolin huffed and sat back in his chair. Mako rolled his eyes and looked a little embarrassed. Korra didn’t know if it was about Bolin or the letter.

After that class went fairly smoothly. Once Bolin stopped giving them suspicious looks he just about fell asleep with his face on the table. Mako was nervously fiddling all through class and Korra couldn’t help looking over her shoulder every few minutes. She didn’t even realize she was doing it until Asami caught her eye. Asami smiled and waved softly at Korra, who was certain her own grin was too forced to look anything but creepy. But Asami giggled into her hand and Korra released the tension in her shoulders so as to laugh with her. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment in making Asami laugh, even if it wasn’t on purpose.

Mako gave her a quizzical look but otherwise didn’t comment on it.

-

“Okay I think I’ve figured it out,” Bolin said triumphantly as they left the class, “you guys are pranking Asami.”

“What?” Korra asked, Mako looking just as confused on the other side of Bolin.

“Well, it has to have something to do with her, Mako clearly put something in her bag and Korra kept looking back at her.”

Mako raised an eyebrow at the last part, but before he could ask, Korra cut in, “it’s nothing to do with her, really Bolin there’s nothing going on.”

He pouted at this, clearly not believing her. Korra looped her arm around his shoulders and beamed up at him, though, trying to alleviate some of his irritation. He tried to keep a straight face for a while, but when he saw Opal across the hall a grin spread across his face and Korra was sure he’d forget all about it by tomorrow.

-

Korra basically forgot about the letter for the rest of the day. If she replayed Asami’s smile from class that day in her head a few times, then sue her, but at least the persistent nerves about the letter seemed to have subsided by the end of the day. And after practice it was barely lingering in the back of her mind.

The rest of the week was fairly simple after that. Mako didn’t mention Asami to her again and Bolin was no longer suspicious. Kya kept giving her sympathetic looks in bio, which she didn’t really know what to think of, but she tried not to let it bother her much. Everything seemed to be back to normal, until Mako ran at her again after practice, hollering her name in such an uncharacteristic way for him that she was afraid he might be possessed.

“Korra! Korra she wrote back!” he panted when he finally caught up to her, flapping a piece of paper around in her face.

“Who? Asami?” Korra asked though she knew the answer.

“Yea! I haven’t read it yet, though. I thought I should wait for you cause I don’t know what you wrote.”   


“Alright then give it here,” Korra demanded, ignoring his bitter tone. Mako gave her an envelope with his name scribbled in careful cursive above the seam. She ripped it open unceremoniously and read the message quickly.

_ Mako, _

_ You’re right, honesty was the right way to go. But you were wrong about me not wanting to know more about you. _

_ Asami _

“That’s it?” Korra asked as she flipped the page over a few times in search of more writing.

“What does it say?” Mako asked, trying to look over her shoulder, “Korra what did you say to her? This doesn’t sound promising.”

“No this is good, she’s invited you to keep talking to her.”

“But even if I could write a decent letter myself she’s seen your handwriting now, anything I send her she’ll know is different.”

“Then I’ll keep writing them.”

“What? I said it’d just be the one.”

“I guess it just shows my superior character,” at Mako’s raised eyebrow Korra laughed and added, “besides it’ll be fun.”

“You just want me to buy you coffee.”

“Just a bit,” Korra laughed. She knew she was far to excited about this, but there was no going back now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this chapter was a struggle because i wasn't sure what I wanted them to say in the first letters and I didn't want it to be just like the movie because they're very different characters. This is what I ended up going with, I'm still not entirely happy with it but hopefully it's still enjoyable. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra tries ignoring her doubts about the situation she's gotten herself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer than I intended but here you go!
> 
> As always kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)

Writing these letters was getting a lot easier. It was still a pain in the ass, but had been a few weeks since they started sending them back and forth, and now getting her replies and thinking of something to say back was becoming something Korra enjoyed way too much. It was honestly still annoying to have to talk about Mako, but Asami’s understanding and insight was unlike anyone Korra had talked to before.

But for every wonderful thing she found out about Asami she had to relay to Mako. Who just didn’t get it. He admired Asami’s intellect and beauty, but past that he was clueless. Asami wasn’t the pretty rich girl people pegged her for. She loved art history and was a bit of a control freak and played with her hair when she was concentrating on something (Korra may not have learned that last bit from the letters but whatever). She wanted to be an engineer, she’d work on the cars in her dad’s garage when she was stressed, and only ever participated in the business side of her father’s company when it was absolutely necessary. Mako only seemed to grasp that she would be taking it over when her father retired.

Korra was starting to dread the day that Asami and Mako started talking face to face. Mako wasn’t completely helpless, Korra knew that, but she didn’t want to let go of this and give it all to him. That’s why she wrote her number on the back of her next letter. That would have been fine, maybe even good for Mako, the thing is she didn’t tell him she did it.

She meant to, really. It just didn’t really come up until after he’d given the letter to Asami. Or, you know, sneaked it into her locker when she wasn’t looking cause he’s still too scared to give it to her directly.

So when she got her first text from Asami while sitting right next to Mako she freaked out a little bit.

_ You get sick of using such old fashioned means of communication? - Asami _

Korra almost dropped her phone when she saw it. She was on the bleachers with Mako, hanging out before practice started and was lucky her phone didn’t fall all the way to the ground. Mako looked at her curiously as she fumbled to pick it up and angled the screen away from him.

“What was that?” Bolin leaned out to speak to Korra around his brother.

“Nothing,” Korra replied way too quickly.

Mako didn’t have to do anything more than stare at her for a few moments before she caved.

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

Mako nodded and Bolin leaned even more forward and asked “be mad about what?”

“I kinda wrote my number on the last letter…”

“Letter?”

“Really Korra?! Why the hell would you do that?”

“I’m sorry! I thought it could help.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Bolin was nearly falling off his seat at this point, wearing an extremely confused look.

“If you wanted to help you would have put my number.”

“I wasn’t thinking okay.”

“What’s going on?” Bolin asked again, but neither of them could answer as the softball coach and a few players started moving onto the field.

“Gotta go guys,” Korra stood and grabbed her things, “Mako can explain everything.” 

She then walked to the dugout as the boys made their way towards the baseball field. Korra thought she heard Bolin yell “Asami Sato?!” while Mako tried to shush him, but she couldn’t be sure.

-

After practice Korra rushed off the field as quickly as possible to avoid having to face Mako again. She was sure it would have been fine, but honestly didn’t have the energy to deal with it. So she put it all out of her mind as she walked home. It wasn’t until she collapsed on her bed at home that she thought about the text Asami had sent. Without thinking she pulled out her phone and typed a response.

_ I was thinking about trying carrier pigeons but it wasn’t very cost effective so I figured giving you my number was the next best thing _

Korra thought it was funny, but didn’t wait to find out if Asami felt the same. She put Asami’s number into her contacts before quickly putting away her phone. She didn’t want to make Mako any more angry with her by continuing to text with the girl he liked. 

So she spent the rest of her evening distracting herself with homework —or rather staring off into space after trying to do homework for like fifteen minutes— and talking with her family. But by the time the sun had gone down and she had begun winding down herself she couldn’t help but check Asami’s reply. However when she opened her phone she had two notifications. One from Asami that just read:  _ Dork. _ But the second was from Mako. Right. Korra actually almost forgot about him for a moment. 

**_Mako_ **

_ Sorry about earlier, I know you were just trying to help. To repay me for not telling me though would you be available tomorrow to help me figure out how to ask her out? _

**_Korra_ **

_ What do I get out of it? _

**_Mako_ **

_ My forgiveness and an iced coffee _

**_Korra_ **

_ Deal. _

-

She didn’t see Mako or Asami for most of the next day. It was actually nice to get a reprieve from complicated feelings and situations that she was starting to think she shouldn’t have gotten involved with in the first place. But her next class was biology and it had gotten weirdly hard to concentrate in that class since she’d started getting to know Asami. In recent weeks she’d started either hyper focusing on taking notes or staring off into space in Asami’s general direction. If Ms Kya had noticed she hadn’t chosen to say anything after their conversation, which Korra was kind of grateful for.

What she was less grateful for was the partner project Kya was describing now. Korra was friendly with just about everyone, but there weren’t many people in this class she wanted to work with, and Kya was picking them at random. So the room was full of groaning teenagers and today was just not going her way. Luckily this was her last class of the day and it was almost over.

“Alright, that’s about all the time we have for today so when you hear your name and get your partner you can leave. You’ll have time in class to work on this until Friday,” Kya then started to call out names, some met with cheers and others with awkward silence. There were only about six people left in the room by the time Korra’s name was called.

“Korra and Asami.”

Korra froze. Kya gave her that knowing look again as she handed Asami a piece of paper with the directions on it. Asami was waiting for her outside the classroom when Korra finally got herself together enough to leave.

“Hey Korra,” Asami said brightly, she had her binders clutched to her chest and was wearing one of the most genuine smiles Korra had ever seen. “I was afraid I’d end up partnering with Tahno or something so I’m really glad I got you.”

“Uh yeah, same here,” Korra was fiddling with the straps of her backpack and looking between Asami and the ground. She kind of expected the interaction to end there, but Asami began walking with her down the hall.

“Okay so I know Kya said we’d have time in class, but I was kind of wondering if you wanted to just get it out of the way and do it after school sometime?” Asami seemed a little nervous, like she thought it’d be inconvenient for Korra. So Korra shot her a reassuring smile and nodded.

“Yeah that’d be great, then I can take a nap or something in that class.”

Asami laughed at that, clear and happy and one of the best sounds Korra thought she’d ever heard. “Great! Do you have time before practice to figure out a time?”

Korra was about to agree when she saw Mako walking towards them with two iced coffees. Right. “Sorry, I kinda told Mako I’d help him with something after school today, maybe tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

If korra didn’t know any better she’d say that Asami looked disappointed, but she didn’t have time to think about it because Mako was right next to her. He handed her one of the coffees and was probably about to say some sort of greeting when he noticed Asami.

“Oh— uh hey Asami, I didn’t know you two were friends.”

Asami’s whole demeanor changed with him, and seeing it hit Korra like a large truck. Of course Asami was just being polite to a classmate, Mako was the one she thought she was talking to, the one she probably liked, the one she was blushing and flipping her hair for. And that should have been fine, Korra knew that it shouldn’t matter, but for some reason it did.

It was at this point that Korra realized Asami was explaining their class project and Korra thought she might have mentioned wanting to hang out more but she was too busy pouting to know for sure.

“Well, Korra promised she’d help me with— uh, math homework, so we should probably get going,” Mako said nervously as he grabbed Korra’s arm in an attempt to drag her off.

“ _ Korra _ is helping you with math?” Asami giggled.

Before Korra could respond, or even really process what was happening, Mako had nodded and pulled her away. She turned and waved awkwardly to Asami who was still smiling despite the confused look on her face. Korra tried to send her an apologetic look but she was afraid they were too far apart now for Asami to see it.

As soon as they were outside Mako turned to face her.

“What are you doing?”

“Being dragged outside by you?” Korra tried to joke, but Mako wasn’t having it.

“What are you doing with Asami?”

“We have a project together, it’s not a big deal,” Korra took a step away from him and yanked her arm out of his grip, “I don’t see what you’re freaking out about.”

“I just don’t like you hanging out with her.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Korra was fuming now as mako rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“No I didn’t mean it like that,” he backtracked, “just be careful Korra, I really don’t want her finding out that it was you that wrote the letters.”

“It’ll be fine I promise. Now how about we figure out how to get you a date with her?”

Mako laughed nervously and agreed. Korra still had that sinking feeling in her gut, and hoped that the nagging sentiment would go away soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako attempts a date, while Korra begins to realize who really has chemistry with Asami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point I might be slightly projecting onto Korra by making her a bit of a disaster with a caffeine addiction but it's fine.
> 
> Anyway enjoy the chapter!!

So Korra got Mako his date. And he was completely blowing it.

They’d spent half an hour drafting a text together to get Asami to meet him for dinner and this casual restaurant near school on Sunday. Asami agreed easily, but they soon realized that wasn’t really their biggest obstacle.

Korra had been making sure Mako knew everything she told Asami in their letters so he wouldn’t say something to give them away, and she even found some walky talkys in her basement that she set up so she could listen to their conversation from across the room. She had a dark sweatshirt on and was in a booth far to the back where Mako could see her around the corner but Asami couldn’t, so it wasn’t likely that Asami would notice her. Basically Korra had come up with a foolproof plan that Mako went and ruined by being completely useless.

Asami was clearly trying her best to make this enjoyable, but it was like Mako didn’t know how to act like a normal human being with her. At first it was stuttering and nerves that could be considered endearing, but after like fifteen minutes of him talking about paperwork Korra’s forehead hurt from facepalming so much. Asami was smiling politely, but looked about as confused as Korra felt. Finally she had enough and called Mako. As soon as his phone started to ring he turned his head to glare at her and she motioned for him to meet her outside.

“Sorry Asami, I’ve gotta take this,” Mako grunted, gesturing towards the door.

Asami actually looked somewhat relieved as she said, “that’s totally fine, take your time.”

Mako smiled gratefully and jogged outside with his phone up to his ear, pretending to be taking the call despite Korra having hung up.

“What are you doing?” he demanded when he made it outside.

“What am I doing?” Korra hissed, “What are you doing? You’re a disaster in there.”

“I didn’t think it was going that bad,” Mako toed the ground at his feet.

Korra looked briefly through the window to see Asami waving off a waiter before looking down at her phone. Her hair was pulled around to one side and fell in her face when she tilted her head down. She’d dressed up more than usual in a short red dress and black heels and Korra couldn’t stand the thought of her trying so hard just for Mako to go and disappoint her. So Korra turned to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Look, just go in there and tell her you’re sorry for being weird, that you get nervous around her or something. Then order some breadsticks and ask her something about herself. After that all you have to do is _listen._ Really it’s not that hard.”

“No way! I’m not gonna apologize for talking, that would be even more embarrassing.”

Korra groaned and grit her teeth. “Fine, then I’ll do it for you.”

Mako looked shocked when she pulled out her phone and tried to grab it from her while she typed.

“And send.”

“What the hell Korra?!”

Korra’s phone buzzed almost immediately so instead of replying to him she turned the screen around for him to read.

**_Asami_ **

_Don’t worry about it._

_Should I be worried about you ranting about paperwork on future dates though?_

“Future dates?” Mako gave a shocked smile at the wording.

“See I fixed it,” Korra said as she sent Asami a quick reply. “Now you can ask her out again if you really want to.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to?”

“Oh come on Mako, you guys have nothing in common,” Korra whined slightly. She was so tired after tonight she barely even registered what she was saying. “Do you even like her or is this all just because she’s pretty?”

“Of course I like her,” Korra could see Mako starting to get defensive and decided to back off.

“Okay, then get back in there,” she spun him around and shoved him towards the door. She’d have to do some damage control with him tomorrow if she didn’t want him to brood and ignore her for saying that, but that was a problem for future Korra.

To avoid suspicion she stayed outside for about five minutes after he entered the restaurant before going back in with her hood up. She could see Asami giggling as soon as she came in and her chest was doing that twisty thing again. They were talking about school and both of them looked far more at ease.

Once she was sure that Mako would be fine on his own, Korra inhaled like ten breadsticks and left. She did her part, and she didn’t think she could handle watching them any longer. The tightness in her stomach didn’t relent on the walk back and when Asami texted her later to thank Mako for the nice evening Korra didn’t reply.

-

Korra was right about Mako being annoyed with her the next day. She's dealt with worse from him, but it was still annoying that he would give her the cold shoulder even after she’d done him so many favours in getting the date in the first place. She had intended to apologize, but after a rather restless night she was not in the mood. Luckily Bolin seemed oblivious to the tension between them and actually managed to make math class somewhat bearable. Which was an impressive feat considering Korra was forced to witness the awkward glances Mako and Asami kept sending each other. 

By the time class was over Korra was even more tired than before and didn’t want to speak to anyone but Bolin for any reason whatsoever. She went through the rest of the day on autopilot, and used all her energy not to snap at anyone who mildly inconvenienced her. 

She’d had a lot of days like this lately and she did not appreciate it. It was also raining, meaning she’d have to walk home sopping wet. Once the last bell rang for the day she just wanted to go home and pass out on her bed. For once she was actually glad she didn’t have practice that day due to the weather. 

She almost made it out the door when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned with a low grumble, only to be greeted with the soft smile of one Asami Sato.

“Hey Korra.”

Korra ran a hand through her hair to try and get it to at least look somewhat presentable and smiled more genuinely than she had all day.

“Oh hey,” Korra’s grin grew tenfold when she saw what Asami was carrying.

“Sorry if this is presumptuous, but you seemed a little off today so I got you coffee on my free period,” Asami said as she held one of the cups she was holding. “I didn’t know what you liked though, aside from iced coffee, so there are some sugar packets and this one has an extra shot of espresso, just in case.”

Korra’s eyes were shining and she was ripping open sugar packets two at a time. “Caffeine and sugar, you sure know the way to a girl’s heart, Sato.”

To Korra’s delight Asami giggled and tucked a piece of dark hair behind her ear.

“Really, this is amazing, thank you,” Korra said before taking a large sip.

“It’s no trouble,” Asami laughed lightly at Korra’s enthusiasm. “But I should probably let you go to practice soon.”

“Oh, actually the field is flooded so we get a day off today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Korra bit her lip and then asked, “if you have time to hang out we could work on that science project or something?”

“That’d be great.”

They ended up spending two and a half hours in the library and only managed to get half of the project done. Part of that was the ridiculous amount of work Kya was expecting of them, but they had also spent over an hour of that time not even thinking about school.

Korra had never really been friends with another girl before, and if all girls are like Asami she really wished she had. Even just being near her made Korra’s whole day infinitely better, it was easy and casual and Asami was so _perfect_. Korra already knew a fair amount about her from the letters and texts they’d exchanged, and it was far from the first time they’d talked in person, but having Asami to herself without having to pretend to be someone else was refreshing. That is until something would come up and remind Korra how complicated her situation with Asami really was.

“So you’re close with Mako right?”

“Well yeah, but we’re just friends,” Korra tried to keep her cool and keep her eyes trained on the paper in front of her. “I promise.”

“Oh no I’m not worried about that,” Asami reassured her. “I just can’t figure him out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know if he told you about this, but he left me a letter a little while back.”

Korra rubbed the back of her neck and picked at her nails while Asami explained the situation that Korra knew all too well.

“He’s so sweet and tries so hard in the letters, but when we met for a date last night it was completely different,” Asami had that crease in her brow that she always got when she was frustrated, and Korra wanted so badly to explain it away, but that was out of the question. “Not a bad kind of different, just...inconsistent.”

Korra knew she should say something in Mako’s defence, otherwise both him and Korra would be screwed, but what came out of her mouth instead was, “which one do you like better?”

At Asami’s confused look she added, “talking to him face to face or in the letters?”

It was a selfish and stupid question, Korra knew that, though she still waited with baited breath as Asami thought about it.

“Honestly I don’t know. I had a great time last night, but it felt more,” Asami paused and tapped her finger against her chin as she searched for the right words, “surface level, I guess, than when we’ve texted late at night.”

Korra hummed, satisfied with the answer. Really, she should be happy Asami was thinking about Mako like that, it meant she’d done well for her friend and could probably stop intervening soon. But part of her was happy to hear that Asami felt closer to her than Mako. She really needed to get herself out of this mess before she got a chance to really think about what those feelings meant.

She didn’t know what she could say to help without giving anything away so her dumbass brain spouted the first thing she could think of. “That’s rough, buddy.”

Asami stared at her for a moment before she doubled over laughing. Korra was blushing as her words finally caught up to her, but Asami’s eyes were crinkled by her grin even after her giggles died down, so Korra couldn’t help but laugh along as well.

“Wow, did you get your social skills from Mr Zuko?” Asami teased.

“Shut up,” Korra grumbled, her blush not fading in the slightest.

Asami laughed again and before Korra could process what was happening Asami had leaned over and poked her on the cheek. “Aw, are you blushing?”

Korra’s eyes were wide and Asami hadn’t leaned back yet, so she was only able to cross her arms and mumble “no.”

Asami smirked and finally moved away, humour still present in her light green eyes even as she let it go. “Well, I doubt we’ll be able to finish this in the next fifteen minutes before school closes, so we’ll have to do this again sometime this week.”

“Or we could hang out without a school project,” Korra said, a whole lot bolder than she’d intended but Asami nodded and agreed somewhat eagerly so Korra counted it as a win.

Asami started to pack up her things and waited with her hand on her hip as Korra stuffed the last of her papers into her bag. They walked in comfortable silence through the school and when it came time to part ways in the parking lot Korra didn’t really want to say goodbye. Asami was digging in the front pocket of her bag for her car keys so she couldn’t see Korra rubbing the back of her neck and shifting her weight. When she finally dug her keys out she held them up with a noise of triumph and turned to Korra again. She cocked a brow and looked at Korra expectantly. Korra figured there was something in her own expression telling Asami she had something to say, so she waited patiently while Korra looked for the right words.

“Um, thanks,” she said while her hands flapped about uselessly, “for the coffee I mean, and today in general.”

“Of course,” Asami leaned back against her car and smiled at Korra.

“So yeah, I’ll just— Um, I should go,” Korra pointed her thumb over her shoulder.

“See you tomorrow, Korra.”

Korra sent Asami her trademark lopsided grin and turned to walk home.

Korra thought that this might be her favourite day. The beginning didn’t matter. No, Asami was all that mattered, and Korra was starting to accept that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like my not so subtle atla reference?
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated as always :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay tbh this chapter is just self indulgent Korrasami fluff with only a little bit of plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a little longer than I had hoped, but it's longer than the others so hopefully that makes up for it.
> 
> Have fun reading!

Korra knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she didn’t particularly care. It was almost the end of the day, and her last class was biology. With Asami. She felt like such a high school cliche, counting down the minutes before she saw someone, but after last night she couldn’t help being excited to hang out with Asami, even in a class setting. But before she could get there, she’d have to get through lunch with Mako.

Mako wasn’t really mad at her anymore, but Bolin was off with Opal somewhere so it would just be the two of them.

“Um, so the weather is quite—”

“Really Mako?”

He sighed and slouched back against his chair. “Sorry, I guess Bolin is the one that usually makes our conversations interesting.”

“You can say that again” Korra joked, but when silence fell over them again she added, “how are things going with Asami?”

“Oh, good I guess, we’ve only talked once since the date though.”

“Oh yeah!” Korra said so suddenly that Mako almost dropped his sandwich. “I forgot to show you what ‘you’ talked to her about the last few days.”

She moved right next to him so they could read her texts together, but when their shoulders were flush together he froze and stuttered, “do you have to be that close?”

“Oh come on, I’m a girl not an alien, I’m sure we’ve bumped shoulders before,” Korra rolled her eyes and started reading off her phone what Asami had said. Mako barely seemed to be paying attention, and his face was a bit red, but Korra paid him no mind.

She couldn’t help her wide grin when they got to the three long texts Asami had sent explaining how she wanted to go into engineering at a college in Republic City. Korra was happy with the small town they’d grown up in, but after the way Asami talked about the city Korra wanted nothing more than to go with her. And even though Korra knew absolutely nothing about engineering, it was endearing to hear how excited Asami got talking about it. Even over text she sent long winded descriptions of her projects, and every time Asami apologized for getting carried away Korra would assure her that she loved it.

“Wait, why did you say that?” Mako interrupted her thought process and pointed to the bottom of the screen.

Korra had replied  _ I wouldn’t mind moving to the city if it was with you _ , which at the time she thought was very smooth and clever, but with the way Mako was looking at her he clearly didn’t think that was the case.

“It’s called flirting Mako.”

“No— I know that,” he groaned, “but I have no intention of leaving this town.”

Korra frowned, “well, neither did I, but saying that would cause more problems than it’s worth.”

Mako’s shoulders sagged and he put his face in his hands. “How are you better at this than I am? You’re a girl.”

“Because you’re really bad at this,” Korra scoffed but when he groaned deeper in response she clapped him on the back, “dude it’s  _ because _ I’m a girl that I’m better at this than you, I know what she wants to hear.”

Mako huffed and still didn’t look up.

“Do you want classes or something on how to talk to girls?” Korra nudged him, she was mostly joking, but he actually looked up at her expectantly when she said it. “Like wooing Asami Sato 101?”

“Would you?” Mako chuckled.

“Sure. I mean I don’t have anything else to do.”

Mako smiled genuinely at her and for a moment she thought he was gonna hug her. But then again he’s Mako, so he didn’t. But when the bell rang he punched her shoulder and nodded as they parted ways, so Korra guessed that was his way of saying thank you.

-

Asami waved her over as soon she entered the biology classroom. Kya was sitting at her desk waiting for the students to settle in, and gave Korra a look that she proceeded to ignore. At least Kya was overlooking the fact that Korra wasn’t actually supposed to be sitting with Asami.

“Hey.”

Asami smiled in return and looked like she was about to say something when Kya started class. She explained that the group project would be pushed to the next week so they could do a lab that day. It was some weird chemical mixing thing, and while Korra didn’t know why they were doing chemistry in a biology class, Asami seemed interested, so she went along with it.

Korra grabbed their materials from Kya’s desk while Asami began the lab write up in her neat cursive. Korra had thought since the first letter that Asami’s handwriting was beautiful, but she couldn’t really say that now.

Korra carefully set down the materials she had under both her arms and turned to Asami for instructions. Asami was just looking up at her like she was amused by something. 

“What?” Korra self consciously looked down at herself and patted down her hair to see if it was messed up.

Asami shook her head, “nothing, it just probably would have been easier to carry all that with two trips.”

Korra shrugged, “Eh, I got it didn’t I?”

“True.”

They then read over the instructions sheet twice and got started.

Asami was a natural at this kind of thing. Not only did she tell Korra what to do and how to do it, but her predictions as the reaction were almost always right, like she already knew everything there was to know. Korra felt a little incompetent next to her, but that wasn’t exactly new. However she wasn’t jealous or intimidated or anything like she would usually be. No, if anything she was proud. She knew how hard Asami worked and seeing her so focussed was captivating.

“Okay, it says to add a pinch of baking soda carefully, and that’s underlined so be cautious,” Asami read off the assignment sheet. Korra rubbed the back of her neck and bit her lip. Unfortunately, Asami seemed to notice her hesitance and suggested, “if you want I can do this part?”

“I got it,” Korra said, snatching the container off the counter. When she saw Asami put her hands up and take a step back she added, “sorry, my pride tends to get the best of me sometimes.”

“I actually think it’s kinda cute,” Asami smiled and put her hand on Korra’s shoulder.

Korra was so shocked she proceeded to dump the entire cup of baking soda into the solution. The following explosion not only alerted the entire class to Korra’s mistake and panic, but also since it happened right in Korra’s face blew her hair up, not unlike a cartoon. The whole room went silent and Korra was scared to turn and see anyone’s reaction, until she heard the unmistakable sounds of someone giggling beside her. She turned to see Asami trying to hide a snicker behind her hand.

“Hey!” Korra pouted at her, “this is just as much your fault as it is mine.”

“How is this my fault?” Asami was outright laughing now.

“You—” Korra stopped herself before she could say something stupid and grumbled, “you nudged me or something.”

Asami raised an eyebrow, but Kya cut in before she could respond.

“Alright girls, can you meet me after class to clean this up?” 

They both nodded and apologized profusely, Korra more out of mortification and Asami maintaining her image as the perfect teacher's pet she was. Kya’s stern facade cracked slightly as they talked over one another. “Just be more careful next time, Korra.”

When she turned to see how the other groups were doing Korra and Asami slumped back into their chairs. They looked at one another before bursting into another fit of giggles.

“Still think it was my fault?” Asami leaned over and whispered.

Korra, still blushing furiously, mumbled “maybe.”

Asami softened a bit and nudged Korra’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, the first and last time I ever tried cooking I caught a towel on fire, spilled flour all over myself, and burnt what I was making. So I’m not one to judge people for their mistakes.”

“So even Asami Sato can make mistakes?”

Asami scoffed and rolled her eyes.

-

They spent the rest of class cleaning their desk, and when it was over they waited to speak to Kya. They watched the door until everyone else was gone, and then Kya sat down at her desk and waved them over.

“Okay, what time would you both be free to redo the lab?”

Both Korra and Asami’s jaws dropped. “You’re not mad at us?”

“Of course not,” Kya laughed, much to the surprise of the girls before her. “I can’t have other students thinking I’m picking favorites though, so say I gave you a stern lecture, okay?”

Asami nodded while Korra tried to process what was happening.

“Really?”

Asami elbowed her in the side to get her to just accept the mercy. Kya laughed again and nodded, “I’ve been where you are, trust me. Just try not to let it happen again.”

Korra opened her mouth to ask what she meant by that, but Asami was shaking her head at her so she decided to shut up. Kya smiled fondly at them, in that teacher-like way that she did, like she could see something obvious that they were too young to understand yet, but were close to figuring out. Then she nodded to the door as a sign for them to leave.

When Kya excused them the halls were a lot less crowded. Asami started laughing again, whereas Korra let out a long sigh. “We are so lucky.”

“Kya must have a soft spot for you or something, I’ve never seen her let anyone off that easy,” Asami bumped into Korra’s shoulder as they walked.

“Pfft hardly,” Korra said, tapping Asami’s foot with her own, “you’re the smart one, I bet it’s you that she likes.”

Instead of responding Asami tapped her foot back playfully. Korra gasped infake offense and tried to stomp on Asami’s foot in retaliation, but she dodged. She looked at Korra in challenge, and soon they were both weaving through the halls, Korra chasing her with a large grin on her face. Asami was taller and had longer legs but Korra was more athletic, so when they made it outside Korra sped up to a sprint and grabbed Asami’s wrist. She spun Asami around and once their momentum had slowed to a stop she turned fully towards Asami, both her hands in Korra’s own now, and tapped her foot again.

“I win.”

Asami smiled and didn’t argue.

Korra stayed there, grinning like an idiot, until Asami reached a hand forward to try and fix the hair that Korra was unable to tame after the explosion.

“Uh, thanks,” Korra said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Asami put her hand on her hip and looked down on Korra. “You know I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like you Korra.”

Korra tilted her head at the sudden statement. She made a confused face that Asami proceeded to laugh at.

“I just mean that for a prideful jock, you’re really sweet.” Korra didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered. It didn’t matter much though when Asami was looking at her like she was the only thing of consequence at that moment. “I’m glad we’re friends.”

Right. Friends. For some reason that word didn’t sound right to Korra. And then it was all coming back into focus, her deal with Mako and the fact that no matter how much Asami teased or confided or smiled, he would be the one she went to first. But Korra would take what she could get.

Korra ground her teeth into a smile and agreed.

“Oh shoot what time is it?”

Asami looked down at her watch, “3:34, why?”

“I need to put the bases in before practice, sorry.”

Asami waved off her apology, “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yeah,” Korra started jogging backwards towards the field, waving to Asami as she went. Asami shook her head in amusement, but still waved back.

-

Korra stayed on the field after practice for the first time in what felt like forever. She didn’t have the pitching machine out this time, only a bucket of balls that she threw up and hit. She’d almost forgotten how nice it was to be alone with her thoughts and get her frustrations out. Lately her mind had been so overrun with Mako’s crap, that she didn’t have a moment to stop thinking for a bit.

And this was the perfect evening for it. It was around 6:30 so it wasn’t super hot, and there weren’t many students left around from after school activities, just Korra. That is until she saw a figure exit the school, and rather than going towards the parking lot, headed towards Korra. They sat down on the bleachers, enough in the shadows for Korra to be unable to see them clearly. She frowned, but figured they were waiting for a ride or something and picked up another ball. She hit it hard enough to get that satisfying sound off her bat, and it went to the outfield. She got through four more similar hits before the bucket was empty. She jogged out to retrieve them all, and when she got back the figure had moved.

They were in the light more, with their elbows on their knees watching Korra. Korra squinted and when she made it back to home plate she could make out long dark hair and a red jacket. Asami.

Korra pretended not to notice her and prepared for another hit. She swung harder than she had all night, maybe trying to show off a little bit for her surprise audience. She missed. She cursed quietly and picked up the ball again. She took a deep breath and hit the next one way into centerfield. She got through three more before she cracked.

“You gonna say something or just watch me all night?”

She could hear Asami’s laugh even from where she was standing. “I wanted to see what psycho was out playing softball alone at this time of day. Then I saw it was my psycho and waited to see how long you’d go before noticing me.”

Korra blushed at the word  _ my _ but kept her cool as she walked up to the fence in front of Asami. “Aw, I’ve got my own stalker.”

“You wish,” Asami scoffed, hopped up from where she was sitting and leaned against the other side of the fence, next to Korra.

Korra’s smile was wide and crooked as she grabbed the fence between them. “What are you doing here so late anyway?”

“Studying,” Asami said a bit too quickly. “In the library, I lost track of time.”

Oh. It was one of those days. Asami had talked to Korra (well Mako was technically the one Asami thought she had told) about the days she’d spend hours studying after school, not wanting to come home to her father’s sketchy business deals or the responsibilities that fell to Asami when he wasn’t up to them. There was far too much pressure on her for a teenage girl, and if Korra could let her forget about that, even for a little bit, she would.

Korra tilted her head and muttered, “Okay.”

“Do you do this often? Practice alone,” Asami changed the subject and gestured around them.

Korra bit her lip and nodded. “It’s relaxing, I guess. And a good way to blow off steam.”

Asami nodded and when the silence stretched between them she made her way around the dugout to get on the field. When she got to where Korra had set up her stuff she picked up a ball and threw it in the air, “I don’t know much about baseball, but your skills are actually kind of impressive.”

“Kind of?” Korra gasped, only partly joking. Her pride would not stand for such slander. “I’ll have you know that A. this isn’t a baseball, and B. my skills are  _ very  _ impressive.”

Asami raised a single eyebrow and tossed her the ball. “Alright then,  _ Avatar, _ show me what you’ve got.”

Korra stood up straight and rolled her shoulders. “You might want to stand back.”

Asami rolled her eyes but did as she was told. Korra got into her stance, threw up the ball and hit it with as much force and accuracy as she could. It went over the fence in what would’ve been a home-run. She turned and did a silly little bow while Asami slow-clapped. When she straightened up she stuck her tongue out at Asami and they both started laughing.

“Ah yes, quite impressive,” Asami praised somewhat mockingly, “how could I be so wrong?”

Korra chuckled and twirled a piece of hair between her fingers. “Yeah, well what’s less impressive is having to go retrieve that.”

Asami laughed and offered to get the rest from the outfield from when she was hitting earlier. Once they’d gotten everything and locked up the equipment, Korra offered to walk Asami to her car.

Asami was digging through her bag again for her keys, but there was a distinct furrow in her brow, so Korra just let the comfortable silence remain. When she finally dug the keys out of the bottom of her bag she turned to Korra with a decisive smirk.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to hang out for a bit longer?”

“Uh, sure. What do you have in mind?”

Asami put a finger to her chin as she thought it through, before she grabbed Korra’s arm and dragged her to the parking lot.

“Come on, I want to show you something,” Asami said with that easy smile that had Korra thinking she’d go anywhere with this girl.

“Okay.”

“I’ll drive,” Asami threw her keys in the air and flipped her hair.

“I should hope so, considering I don’t really know how.”

“Wait you don’t know how to drive?”

“Well this town isn’t very big, so I can basically walk anywhere I need to. Plus Mako and Bolin can take me if I need a ride.”

Asami looked at her like she’d grown another head. “Alright new plan, I’m gonna teach you.”

“What?! No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Korra held her hands up in defense and started backing away, but Asami looked far too determined, with her hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised, for Korra to think she was getting out of this.

“Come on you’re seventeen, you should know how to drive. Plus it’s relaxing.”

Korra wasn’t convinced, but she couldn’t say no to the pleading look in Asami’s eye. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

She looked so excited at the words that Korra couldn’t help but grin back. Asami opened the driver’s side door of a car that looked far too fancy for Korra to even touch, much less drive, and got in on the other side. She looked up at Korra expectantly, who carefully got in and held her hands hesitantly over the steering wheel. Asami giggled into her hand and smiled at her again. “It’s okay Korra, you can touch it. You’re going to have to if you want to, you know, steer.”

Korra pouted, but put her hands on it anyway. “So how do I make it go?”

“It’s not bumper cars Korra, you need to know more than that before I’m letting you go anywhere.” Asmai was going to have to stop saying Korra’s name like that if she didn’t want Korra to get distracted and crash. She leaned over and started explaining the gears and rules and way too much about the inner workings of the car for it to make much sense, but when she asked if Korra understood she just nodded.

“Ok the parking lot is pretty much empty so we can go in slow circles until you feel comfortable.”

Korra put her foot on the gas and the car lurched ahead enough for them both to be thrown forward. “Sorry,” Korra muttered with a bashful smile.

Asami’s eyes were wide and her hands were grasping the seatbelt hard enough that her knuckles were white. She let out a breath before turning to Korra with a forced but encouraging smile. “It’s fine, just ease down on the peddle a little more.”

Korra did as she was told, but as they went around the empty parking lot Asami started to realize how little of her lesson had actually gotten through to the other girl. Still, Korra looked too pleased with herself when she finally stopped the car for Asami to say anything about it.

“Was that okay?”

“For your first time driving, not bad,” Asami tried, but her ruffled hair and dizzy look were enough for Korra to tell she wasn’t being completely honest.

“So, um, you said you wanted to show me something earlier, what was it?” Korra changed the subject and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Oh, well you showed me how you like to relax so I was gonna show you around my dad’s garage. I like to tinker with stuff there when I’ve got a lot on my mind.” Korra didn’t mention that she already knew that. “But it’s getting late, maybe some other time.”

Korra hid her disappointment as well as she could and nodded. “Well, thanks anyway, tonight was fun.”

Asami nodded and smiled softer than Korra thought she’d ever seen before. She looked at it for longer than was probably socially acceptable before shaking her head and opening the car door to get out.

She gave a soft wave when she left the car. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, reveling in the light breeze as she walked home, and didn’t notice Asami still sitting in the passenger seat, watching her walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone asks I don't really know what the lab scene was, it just happened so *shrugs*


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra finally figures out her feelings, but it doesn't make anything less complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a little while, I meant to get this out before school started but evidently that didn't end up happening and it took me a few weeks to find time to finish this chapter. I promise once I get a routine going I'll be much better about updates. 
> 
> Also this chapter might be a bit of a mess cause I kept writing a small part and then coming back, but hopefully you'll enjoy!

Korra was in a daze for the whole next week, that weird fluttery feeling in her chest kept growing as she spent more and more time with Asami. By the weekend she gave in and accepted that there was something different about their relationship and if she didn’t sort it out soon it probably wouldn’t end well. So she went to the second best source of information she could think of. Google. (Her first choice would’ve been their family friend Uncle Iroh who was really good at this kind of thing, but he would be at his beach house in California for the next month).

The first thing she tried was searching ‘my friend’s almost sorta girlfriend is super awesome and makes my stomach feel weird and the love letters he gave her were actually written by me and also I’m a girl’ but in retrospect that was probably a little overly specific. She inevitably ended up taking about fourteen Am I Gay? Quizzes and the most common answer seemed to be that she was bisexual. That didn’t solve any of her problems —actually it made them even more complicated— but it did explain a lot. Like why she desperately wanted to be friends with Kuvira in third grade even though she was a bully, and why she had a weird obsession with Katie McGrath. And why she liked Asami so much. Shit.

So seeing Asami and Mako on Monday was gonna be...interesting.

-

When Mako texted her the next morning asking if she could meet him before school she started to complete panic. He had to have figured out her feelings, why else would  _ Mako _ willingly ask to meet with her?

She spent her whole morning overthinking and freaking out about it until she found him leaning not so casually against the side of his car waiting for her. He straightened up and fidgeted awkwardly when he spotted her. Korra liked to think she hid her own nerves better, but when she spoke her voice was higher than normal. “Hey, what’d you want to talk to me about?”

“Right, uh,” Mako opened his car door and started digging around in the passenger seat. When he resurfaced her held a small notebook and a pen. With an uncertain half smile he asked, “You said you could help me with Asami?”

Now, when she had said she’d give him lessons on how to date Asami she was mostly joking, but here he was with a spiral notebook and desperate look. “Er, okay?”

Korra felt like she did okay, considering it was before 7:30 and she had no idea that this was happening, but she was still astonished by how little Mako seemed to know. His topics of conversations consisted of World War 2 facts and school with nothing in between, not to mention his fragile masculinity and inability to read a room. But by the time the warning bell went off Korra had a pretty good idea of how he could use his strengths and maybe even be good for Asami. He was strong and hardworking, if a little awkward at times, far from the worst boy at their school. And he really was trying. With a little help from Korra he really could be a decent boyfriend. Though given her revelation the previous night she wasn’t sure she really wanted to do that. Asami deserved everything good the world had to offer, and while Korra would love to give that to her it wasn’t her that Asami seemed interested in. She could be a good friend and groom Mako into a good boyfriend and hopefully her own feelings would fade eventually. She couldn’t be selfish and run the risk of losing Asami and Mako in one stroke.

“Thanks Korra,” Mako said suddenly, “I know I haven’t been great at this, but I appreciate your help.”

Well that was weird.

He gave her a small smile over his shoulder, because even while he was haphazardly stuffing a notebook in his back he had to walk in front of Korra. So it was still Mako, just a weirdly honest version.

Korra's voice didn’t even waver as she said, “of course, what are friends for.”

Mako finally closed his backpack, threw it over his shoulder and lightly punched Korra’s arm. “Hey, Bolin said he was walking to school today, what do you wanna bet he’s meeting Opal?”

“Has he asked her out officially yet?”

“Nah, he’s ‘waiting for the right moment,’” Mako said in the worst Bolin impression Korra had ever heard.

Korra chuckled, “you’re one to talk.”

“Oh shut up.” He rolled his eyes. “They’re practically dating already, I don’t know what he’s waiting for.”

“Eh I don’t know, it’s kinda sweet that he wanted it to be some big picturesque thing. Only Bolin would care that much.”

“When did you become such a romantic?”

Korra shrugged. She didn’t know herself when she’d started caring about silly things like relationships, but she suspected it was some time around the third or fourth letter.

-

The rest of Korra’s school day was pleasantly uneventful. She went through the motions of all her classes and since she had the day off from practice she made plans with Bolin and Mako after school. They met outside Mako’s last class and were laughing about some silly thing Bolin said when Korra spotted her across the hall. She hadn’t seen Asami all day and somehow she looked even more beautiful now that Korra knew her own feelings. Her hair was pulled into a side ponytail and she’d forgone the usual red jacket in favor of a sundress. She giggled into her hand at something Jinora said and yeah Korra definitely wasn’t straight. 

Asami waved to Jinora as she turned to open her locker and Korra was considering asking if she wanted to join her, Mako and Bolin —to be a good wingman, obviously— when someone else came up behind Asami.

It was a guy from their biology class, Tahno. He wasn’t someone Korra knew very well and she didn’t think Asami liked him very much, but he was leaning against the locker beside hers with a grin, like he wanted something.

Korra tried to turn her focus back to Bolin, he was telling some story about his pet ferret, but she couldn’t help glancing back at Asami every few seconds. Her locker was closed now and it looked like she was trying to find an excuse to leave. Tahno wasn’t grinning anymore.

He was learning far too close to Asami for Korra’s liking. She couldn’t see Asami’s face from there, but her posture was stiff and every time she took a step back Tahno followed her. She wasn’t even processing what Bolin was saying anymore, focusing instead on closing and opening her fist to keep from doing something stupid. Her jaw was clenched so hard it hurt and she opted to just keep her fist clenched so much that her nails dug into her skin. Her frown must have been pretty obvious because Bolin stopped talking and waved a hand in front of her face. “You okay there Korra?”

She ignored him and turned directly to Mako, gesturing to where Asami looked like she was trying to politely tell Tahno to leave her alone. “Aren’t you gonna do something about that Mako?”

He looked where she was pointing and then back at her. “It’s not like we’re officially dating or anything, she can talk to whatever guy she wants,” he shrugged with that infuriatingly petty voice of his.

“She isn’t talking him up, he's harassing her,” Korra growled. 

Bolin looked worriedly between them, sensing another argument coming. Korra and Mako had actually been quite civil the past few weeks, and this morning, while weird, was one of the most pleasant conversations they’d had in a while. But the tension in the air was growing and as Korra got more frustrated Mako’s frown deepened. Korra was about to bite his head off when she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Tahno put his hand on Asami’s shoulder which she swatted away. He grabbed her wrists when she tried to back away again, and Korra saw red.

Before she knew what she was doing she’d stomped across the hall and decked him. His surprised look was totally worth it, especially when she saw a tear in his eye —she didn’t hit him that hard, he was just a baby— but as soon as he rallied he came at her with a furious look. He swung wildly, but he was weak and predictable so Korra dodged him easily before landing a firm hit to his stomach that had him keeling over.

She turned to Asami, making sure she hadn’t been hurt, and saw her staring wide eyed with a crease between her eyes. “Asami are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t want to intervene but I saw him grab you and just— I don’t know, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”

Asami softened a bit at her rambling but she still looked worried, plus there was something else swimming in her eyes that Korra couldn’t quite place. Was she angry? Relieved? Scared? Korra was so distracted trying to placate any negative emotions Asami could be feeling that the only warning she got that Tahno had scrambled to his feet was Asami’s eyes widening as she gestured behind Korra. She turned just in time to get hit in the face. Again it was a weak punch, not enough to bruise or even turn her head, but he hit her right in the lip and soon she could taste blood. Luckily the adrenaline and rage had worn off, so she just rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the shirt with both hands. “She told you to leave her alone,” she snarled, “So leave her alone.”

He fell to the floor again when she let him go. When she turned around again there was a fairly large group of people watching her, at the front there was a still shell shocked Asami, an indecipherable Mako, and a very confused Bolin. Fights weren’t super common at their school, so the rest of the students looked like they didn’t know whether to cheer or call a teacher.

Speaking of teachers, Korra thought she could see Kya making a path through the crowd. She considered running, but given the circumstances it could’ve been a lot worse. If Tenzin had seen that she would be totally screwed, so she let her shoulders drop and gave Kya an apologetic smile.

“Miss, please Korra just attacked me out of nowhere and—”

“Oh shut it weasel-brain, we all know you deserved this.”

Korra couldn’t contain a snort of laughter at that, since it was the best thing any teacher had said  _ ever _ , but when Kya’s eyes flicked back to her she immediately regretted it. “Korra please come with me.”

She followed with her head down, and it wasn’t until they made it past the horde of students that she realised Asami had come with her. “What are you doing?” She whispered loudly.

“She didn’t actually see what happened, she’s smart enough to know you wouldn’t punch someone unprovoked, but when she got there he was on the ground and you seemed unfazed,” Asami muttered far quieter than Korra had. “So I need to vouch for you.”

Korra’s mouth hurt a bit as a dopey grin drew at her lips and she couldn’t suppress a wince. Asami’s worried look returned and she started to reach out for Korra’s face, when Kya spoke up. “Miss Sato I don't believe I asked you to accompany us.”

She’d never used Asami’s last name to address her before, and while Korra knew it hurt Asami a bit to hear it, she stood her ground. “It wasn’t Korra’s fault, he— you needed to know that.”

“Yeah I figured,” Kya sighed and turned fully towards the two girls. “But I can’t ignore the shiner Korra gave him.”

Asami was frowning, but she nodded nonetheless.

“Alright, I need to talk to Korra alone for a minute, you can wait here if you’d like.”

Korra sent Asami her best ‘it’ll be fine’ smile as she entered Kya’s classroom.

-

Her talk with Kya was actually pretty painless. She was given the standard ‘violence isn't the answer’ talk and a few days of detention, which she wasn’t surprised by. She was surprised to find Asami still there when she came out. She was sitting leaned against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest, but stood quickly when she saw Korra coming out of the room and instantly grabbed Korra’s hand. She was inspecting her bruised knuckles, a fact that took Korra an embarrassing amount of time to realize. She was still staring at where their hands were connected when Asami started speaking. “That was really stupid you know.” Korra’s eyes shot up to meet her gaze. “I can handle myself.”

Korra scratched the back of her neck with her free hand. “Yeah, I know. I just… wanted to make sure you felt safe.”

Korra was pretty sure she saw a blush on Asami’s face, but couldn’t dwell on it because Asami had started dragging her to the nearest bathroom. She let go of her hand and started wetting a paper towel. “You’re a mess” was the only warning she got before she wiped Korra’s bottom lip with it. She’d kind of forgot she’d split her lip, and grimaced at the sudden pain. Asami gave her an apologetic look, but something in her expression also told Korra she wasn’t that sorry.

Asami apparently had to be pretty close to her face while she scrubbed blood of her chin, and Korra was sure she’d end up doing another stupid thing today if that didn’t change.

“I can do that myself, you know?”

“Well it’s done now so there’s no need.”

She didn’t move back.

Korra swallowed past the sudden dryness in her throat and looked around for anything she could use to change the subject. “Uh, how are things going with Mako?”

Asami frowned and finally took a step back. “Korra that should not be even close to the first thing on your mind right now. You could’ve gotten expelled.”

“Oh it wouldn’t have been that drastic, at most I’d be suspended.” Asami’s frown morphed into a glare. “But I wasn’t, just detention for the next few days.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I thought you said I was ‘sweet for a prideful jock’?” Korra tried her crooked grin, pleasantly surprised that her lip didn’t sting at the motion.

“Being sweet doesn’t make you any less of a dumbass,” Asami grumbled, biting her lip to keep from returning Korra’s grin.

“It’s part of my charm.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Korra’s eyes went wide at Asami’s genuine tone, but Asami seemed to have already moved on from the comment. She was looking over Korra’s shoulder and waved as someone called out to them.

“Korra! Dude, that was so badass!” She heard Bolin’s voice behind her and saw him jogging towards them with Mako behind him. “Are you okay though?”

“Yeah, just a split lip.”

Bolin clasped his hands together and bounced around like an excited child. “That was so cool, you were like a superhero!”

Korra chuckled at his antics and looked back at Asami with a smug grin. “See? I’m not an idiot, I’m a hero.”

Asami cocked her hip and raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything Mako cut in. “It wasn’t that great, Tahno went down in one hit.”

There was an edge to his voice that made Korra want to tell him off, but when she looked at him she was surprised to see an almost playful smile. A year ago he probably would’ve been annoyed at the attention Korra was getting, especially from a girl he likes, but he was now joking good-naturedly with Bolin about whether or not he could take Tahno in a fight. Her first thought was that he was learning to be a better person for Asami, but he hadn’t looked at her once, he was looking at Korra. Weird.

“If Korra hadn’t gotten involved I probably would’ve judo-flipped him myself,” Asami cut into the boys debate. They all stopped to look at her and she shrugged, “I’ve been doing martial arts since I was a kid. I told you I could handle myself, Korra.”

She turned to Korra for the last bit and fucking  _ winked. _ And Korra’s poor bisexual brain must’ve short circuited or something because her filter completely disappeared and she muttered, “that’s hot.”

Mako and Bolin turned to her with matching surprised looks and Asami was somewhere between shocked and smug. Once her mind caught up to her words she flushed deeply and backtracked. “I mean that’s what I would say if— or Mako would— shit, I mean it’s just objectively kind of like an attractive kinda thing, especially since you're usually so...snazzy? No that’s not right. You’re just so elegant and cute I wouldn’t have thought that—ugh, maybe Tahno hit me harder than I thought.”

“Korra relax.” Asami put a hand on her shoulder and Korra buried her head in her hands. She heard Asami stifle a laugh and soon Bolin and Mako were cackling behind her. “Good to know even heroes can get embarrassed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok honestly I have nothing against Tahno, he's not that bad, I just wanted to have that for plot reasons and he was just the first character I could think of to fit the role.
> 
> Anyway hope you liked Korra being a bi disaster!
> 
> Oh and I changed my username so if there was any confusion with that I'm sorry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is still a bi disaster but at least she's a bi disaster with good friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... Sorry it's been a while life's been crazy. If it helps there is a fair amount of plot stuff coming up so I promise I will update a lot more frequently.

Korra was starting to think she might be going insane. The two weeks following her revelation about Asami felt like both the best and worst of her life. Every little thing Asami did captivated Korra, and any tiny interaction with her had Korra smiling for hours. However, behind every glance at Asami in Biology or playful exchange between classes was the thought that Mako liked her too. And that she agreed to help him win her over. Honestly, it all would’ve been much more manageable if Mako hadn’t come to her for advice nine times in the past two weeks. She knew he was hopeless but that felt cruel.

Mako and Asami had started talking more too. Not just through Korra or occasionally around school, they had inside jokes now and Mako was finally comfortable enough to flirt openly with her (she thought it was flirting, though with Mako it’s hard to be sure). To say it hurt to watch was an understatement. She’d resolved to back off and let Mako shoot his shot, and hoped that staying friends with Asami was enough for her.

She tried focusing on schoolwork, but that only lasted three days before she got bored. Even Bolin, who up until now had been too distracted by Opal to see everything happening with Korra, had started to take notice.

“You good there Korra?” Speak of the devil. It wasn’t a surprise Bolin was talking to her, he was at her house doing homework with a crappy TV show in the background, but she must’ve zoned out because his sudden voice made her jump. “You seem distracted again.”

“Oh, uh, yeah I’m fine,” She replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

He didn’t look convinced.

“You look like me when I thought Opal friend zoned me,” he said, and if oblivious were a tone of voice that would be the one he used. Opal had finally given up on waiting and asked him out last week. He’d been dopey and starry-eyed ever since. However, now that he wasn’t pining, he was much more aware of how odd Korra was acting.

“I don’t think I’m that bad,” she teased, trying not to draw any more attention to herself. She looked down at where her dog, Naga, had her huge head in Korra’s lap to avoid making eye contact. 

“Oh my god!”

She jumped at Bolin’s outburst and looked up to see him bouncing up and down in his seat across from her. His eyes were wide and she knew she wasn’t getting out of this conversation.

“You like someone!”

“No,” she muttered, probably a bit too quickly, “I do not.”

“You totally do, you’re blushing right now.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are—”

“Bolin,” Korra interrupted trying to stop him with a look. To her relief he backed down slightly, holding his hands up and relaxing down in his seat, but he was still grinning like a fool.

“Look, if you don’t wanna tell me, that’s your business, but I would never judge you, you know.”

Korra startled slightly at how earnest he sounded and saw him smiling encouragingly at her.

“Honestly, as long as it’s not my brother you can like whoever you want.”

“Mako?”

“Yeah, you’ve been weirdly involved in his relationship with Asami, so I had to make sure.”

Bolin looked surprised when Korra started to laugh. She didn’t know whether she was laughing at the irony or her own helpless situation, but it actually felt kind of good. “No, I most certainly do not like Mako.”

Bolin sighed overdramatically and wiped his forehead, “That’s a relief.” He didn’t say anything more, just looked at Korra expectantly as if willing her to answer his unsaid question.

She twisted Naga’s fur between her fingers and sighed. “Fine. I won’t tell you who, but you may be right.”

Bolin pumped his fist and was about to say ‘I knew it’ when he looked up to see her face. While it had been a relief to tell someone, it didn’t actually help much. If anything having someone else know just made it even more real, and her expression must’ve reflected that.

Bolin seemed to panic for a moment before blurting the first thing he could think of. “Do you want to get ice cream?”

Korra smiled and agreed. Though, if the concerned look on his face were any indication, he was not about to forget this.

There was a small ice cream parlor only about two blocks away from Korra’s place, it was run by a slightly grumpy woman, but the environment was nice and Lin actually kind of liked Korra. In her own way.

“What’re you two gremlins doing back here? Don’t you have schoolwork or something?”

“We’re here to bask in your lovely company,” Korra batted her eyelashes, “and maybe free sprinkles?”

“Not a chance.”

Bolin chuckled next to her and started looking over the choices. He always insisted on taking ten minutes to look over his options, only to order the same thing every time. Korra was about to make her own order when she heard a voice behind her.

“Korra?”

She turned to see Ms Kya in a corner by the window, gesturing for her to come over. She looked to Bolin who just shrugged and turned back to very seriously weigh his ice cream options. She sat next to Kya, who didn’t even seem to have any ice cream, just a book sitting in front of her.

“I finally got around to grading you and Asami’s project,” she started, that weird glint in her eye again, like Korra wasn’t seeing something obvious. “You two work well together.”

Korra blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Honestly, it was mostly Asami, I’m not nearly as smart as her.”

“I don’t know about that, she talks pretty highly of you.”

“What do you mean?” Korra asked, perking up despite herself.

“Did she not tell you? She came to see me again after your fight the other week.”

Korra frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

“She wanted to explain to me herself what had happened. I think she was hoping to get you out of detention, though she didn’t say that specifically.”

“What did she say?”

“That you were protecting her, she went off a little bit talking about how stupid that was, but said that she appreciated it. Said that punishing you would be pointless because you’re a good person. No matter how much I told her that I already knew that she wouldn’t stop her rant.”

Korra’s eyes were wide and she had a lopsided grin that she was doing very little to tame. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’ve been down lately, I thought knowing this might cheer you up a little.”

She tried very hard not to look too much into the fact that her teacher seemed to know how much Korra cared what Asami thought about her. “Thanks.”

“Looks like your friend is ready to order, so I’ll let you go.”

Korra said a quick goodbye before rushing over to save Bolin from an increasingly irritated looking Lin. 

“What was that about?” Bolin asked as they started the walk back to Korra’s house.

“With Kya? She was just letting me know that she’d graded me and Asami’s assignment.”

Bolin looked skeptical but didn’t press further. They walked in comfortable silence all the way back which, while nice, was unusual for Bolin. Korra knew why. She wouldn’t tell him who it was and she’d never kept anything from him before. She told him about everything from her opinions on mushrooms to the stress that came with the pride her family placed on her. Hell she even told him when she thought she liked Mako freshman year. Korra knew she’d have to tell him soon, but it was still too complicated to tell him that it was Asami. For now though she could trust him with part of it.

“Bolin?”

“Yeah?”

Korra took a shaky breath and stopped walking. “The person, the one I sort of like, I assume that’s what had you so troubled?” At Bolin’s nod Korra continued, “what if they were a girl? Would you be okay with that?”

Korra couldn’t look him in the eye. She trusted Bolin with her life, but she didn’t realize how hard this would be. He didn’t say anything for a long minute, long enough that Korra worried she should have kept it to herself. They lived in a small town after all, and she was just realizing she didn’t actually know what a lot of people’s opinions were on that stuff. She was about to backtrack, or maybe run away, when Bolin grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

“Oh Korra, you know I’d support you no matter what, right? This doesn’t change anything. I told you I’d never judge you.”

Korra was surprised she didn’t cry. She was certainly close. In the end she whispered ‘thank you’ into his shoulder and they stayed huddled in the street until someone passed by and they remembered where they were.

Bolin sent her smiles the whole way back and texted her a sweet message when he got home, purely to make sure his message got across. It wasn’t necessary though, Korra would never doubt him again.

-

Korra didn’t really know how it happened, but somehow she’d ended up in Asami’s bedroom playing pai-sho on the carpet, and losing miserably. After her initial shock at the pure size of Asami’s house, they’d quickly fallen back into their usual banter, and then Asami offered to teach her how to play. Korra should’ve known that glint in Asami’s eye was trouble, but honestly she couldn’t say no to this girl even if she wanted to.

“Oh, stop pouting.”

“I am not pouting,” Korra pouted.

Asami threw her head back to laugh and leaned on her hands behind her. “If I’d known you were such a sore loser I would have picked something easier.”

“I’m not even losing this round!” Korra insisted after her turn was over.

Asami smirked and easily moved a piece. “Now you are.”

Korra grumbled and didn’t dignify that with a response. She pursed her lips and felt her brow furrow. She took probably more time than she actually needed to make her next move, before sitting back cautiously. When she finally tilted her head up Asami wasn’t looking at the board, she was staring at Korra. Before Korra got a chance to ask why Asami was leaning over the board and smoothing out the wrinkle in Korra’s forehead.

“It’s just a game Korra, no need to get so worked up.”

Korra was pretty sure she’d lost the ability for cognitive speech. 

“Well if you wanna lower the stakes then give me a consolation prize if I lose.”

At this point Korra was mentally cursing whatever deity thought it was a good idea to ever let her open her mouth. That is until Asami started laughing again.

“ _ If _ you lose?”

Korra finally relaxed enough to send back a lopsided grin. “Just cause I’ve lost four times already doesn’t mean I plan on letting you win again.”

Yeah Korra didn’t win. But Asami did a little fist pump for her victory so it was worth it.

“So what do you want?” Asami asked suddenly.

“Huh?”

“Your consolation prize.”

Korra thought hard about it for a moment, not wanting to say something stupid again. “Um, I’ve got a game next friday, it’s kind of a big one, maybe you could come?”

Asami nodded, “I’ll be there.”

She held Korra’s eye for a moment, and Korra started talking suddenly enough for Asami to jump. “Oh! By the way I saw Kya at that little ice cream place yesterday, she said we did great on the bio thing.”

“Wait at Lin’s shop? I see her there like every time I’m in there.”

“Weird.”

They spent the next hour talking mindlessly, while Asami beat Korra at more board games. She didn’t even realise how dark it had gotten until the sounds of the door downstairs indicated that Asami’s dad was home. Korra had told her parents she’d be back by 6, and Asami’s dad wasn’t supposed to get back until 5:45, so she had to leave.

“Uh, thanks for having me,” Korra said after finally locating the jacket she’d left on Asami’s bed.

Asami smiled at her formality. “It was my treat.”

Korra waved one last time and moved to leave.

“Hey, Korra?”

Korra turned with her hand on the doorknob, “Yeah?”

Asami bit her lip like she was debating whether or not to say something. Eventually she shook her head and said, “After the game tomorrow how about we go to dinner with Mako and Bolin? My treat.”

“Really? That’d be awesome,” Korra replied, ignoring the feeling that that wasn’t what Asami was going to say.

“I’d tell you to text me once you’re ready afterwards but you don’t have a phone.”

Right. A few weeks ago Asami had asked Korra for her number. She was about ready to excitedly except when she remembered that her number was the one Asami thought was Mako’s. In a panic Korra had told her that she didn’t have one, said her parents were going to get her one at some point but for now she just had to deal. Not a foolproof lie, but it was the best she could come up with at the time, so she was sticking to it.

“Oh, yeah sorry,” Korra rubbed the back of her neck. “Maybe just meet out front after we win.”

“You’re awfully confident. Aren’t these your biggest rivals?”

Korra grinned. “Yep, and I’m gonna wipe the floor with them.”

-

The next week passed weirdly fast. Her ‘classes’ with Mako had devolved more into just hanging out for like half an hour before school, which while unnecessary (since he seemed to be doing perfectly well with Asami on his own, and it was fine Korra was totally fine) was still nice. He was far less prideful without anyone else around and had actually been sort of sweet. He kept bringing Korra coffee without her even having to ask and even complimented her outfit on Tuesday. It was still the bare minimum, but for Mako to show any effort was an improvement.

Though the best part of the week had to be that Asami kept stopping by Korra’s softball practice to watch for a few minutes and shout encouraging things before she had to leave. It was only about five minutes, and she clearly understood nothing about the sport, but it made Korra’s day. Not to mention how much it motivated her to do well at the game on Friday.

By the time the day came around she had so much excited energy Korra was afraid she might burst. She couldn’t concentrate in any of her classes and was just waiting for school to be over. When the bell finally rang she sighed in relief and made her way outside. She had two hours before she had to be on the field and three before the game even started so she intended to go home to relax before getting ready. She didn’t really have any pre game rituals so she just tried to distract herself for an hour before getting ready way too early and sitting around in her uniform before leaving early. 

The warm up was a bit of a blur, and soon enough they were announcing the lineup. Usually there weren’t too many people watching, a few friends or supportive parents, but that was pretty much it. For this game, however, it felt like the whole school had come. They were playing their rival school afterall, so a lot of students who couldn’t care less decided to come and show their school spirit. They didn’t have a good football team or anything so korra guessed this was the best Republic High would get.

In reality it was barely enough to fill the bleachers, but it felt like a lot. Especially knowing one of the many pairs of eyes on her belonged to Asami. 

Korra only had a few minutes before the game started but she couldn’t help but scan the crowd for her dark hair and red jacket. It wasn’t hard to spot her. Asami sat in the front row watching intently with her hands on her knees, she looked like she was trying to analyse the different positions and rules, but eventually her eyes made their way to Korra and they made eye contact. Asami’s face lit up and she mouthed ‘pay attention’. Korra looked around to see the first baseman looking at her and realised she was waiting to throw a practice ball in the time they had before the first batter was up. Korra got the ball and threw it back quickly before turning back towards the bleachers. She grinned and rubbed the back of her neck while Asami shook her head.

Once the first batter was up, Korra turned all her attention to the game. The first few innings went fairly quickly with Korra’s team barely in the lead. It wasn’t until she got a chance to stop and drink water in the dugout that Korra let herself look out at the crowd again.

She could see Bolin loudly cheering next to Opal, and made out the shape of Mako lurking off to the side of the bleachers. She figured he got there late and didn’t have time to look for a spot before the game started. She was surprised to see that he wasn’t with Asami. It seemed like he hadn’t even noticed her, which was ridiculous because if Korra had made it a habit to find her first in any crowd she was sure Mako would do the same, but his eyes hadn’t left the field since she’d spotted him.

She also thought she saw Kya and Lin near the back, but she couldn’t think of a reason why someone who owns an ice cream parlor would be at a high school sports event, so she wrote it off as having bad eyesight.

After that Korra didn’t really have time to look at the bleachers. The game was far closer than she’d expected. They’d been tied for the whole second half of the game only managing to squeak by with a close play in the last inning where Korra had to slide home. When the ref called it as safe it felt like noise erupted from all around her as her teammates all swarmed the field.

Once everyone settled down Korra tried to get a look at the stands again. Her eyes immediately went to where Asami had been, but she was no longer there. Korra swallowed her disappointment and looked around to find Bolin hollering and lifting Opal off the ground in celebration. Mako, still standing awkwardly off to the side, was smiling right at her and sent her a thumbs up. She sent him back her trademark lopsided grin before being rushed off by her team to talk with the coaches. 

The chat with her team went smoothly, though Korra couldn’t help but be a little antsy. She still had pent up adrenalin from the game and was a little concerned that she hadn’t seen Asami. She didn’t have reason to be nervous, though, because as soon as she turned around something, or rather someone, barrelled right into her.

Korra jumped at first before realizing the arms around her belonged to Asami. She grinned into Asami’s shoulder and hugged her back, clutching the back of her jacket because Korra figured this might be the best hug ever, and it was getting pretty damn cold.

“That was awesome Korra,” Asami whispered next to her ear. She pulled away a second later, to Korra’s dismay, but getting to see the smile on her face was worth it.

“Thanks.” Korra rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m glad you came.”

Asami opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Bolin charging in and crushing Korra in a hug even warmer than Asami’s.

“You were so cool! Good job!” He practically shouted when they separated.

“Even I have to admit that was an awesome game,” Mako said, stepping out from behind his brother.

Korra was grinning like a maniac by now and didn’t even think before wrapping Mako in a hug as well. To her surprise he didn’t freeze or struggle, just cautiously wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Thanks,” Korra muttered into his jacket.

When he stepped away she turned back to Asami and laughed, “I appreciate the praise but all these hugs are just reminding me I’m friends with a bunch of giants.”

“You mean reminding you that you’re super short,” Asami retorted. 

“I’ll have you know I’m far above the average height for girls my age.”

Asami laughed again and looked like she was going to argue, but Korra noticed the weird look Bolin was giving her and changed the subject. “Anyway, I need to change real quick and I’ll be right back out, promise.”

Her friends waved her off and she jogged back to the building to get to the locker room. She had that fuzzy feeling in her chest again as she ran back. She’d gotten better at controlling herself around Asami lately —had even called her a friend without feeling that pang near her heart— but the damn butterflies hadn’t let up. 

When Korra got to the locker room most of her teammates had already left. That’s how it often went after games, most of the girls just wanted to go home and shower, since the Republic High bathrooms hadn’t had working showers since before Korra started high school. 

She quickly changed into more casual clothes and tried to fix her appearance as much as possible before heading out to meet her friends. However, as soon as she opened the door she noticed someone waiting right outside.

“Mako? What’re you doing here?”

“Hey, uh, just wanted to say that was an awesome game.” Mako looked nervous. He was never nervous, or at least tried to never show it.

“Pretty sure you already said that,” Korra laughed, “but thanks.”

Mako had that weird soft smile again.

“By the way, why weren’t you sitting with Asami? I thought things were going well with you guys,” Korra said, not so subtly trying to change the odd energy that seemed to have built up in the room.

Mako almost flinched at the mention of Asami, which was weird, Korra didn’t think anything had happened between them, Asami would’ve told her.

“Yeah, I mean we’re friends now, she’s great.” 

Korra could sense a ‘but’ coming and it put her on edge.

“But I don’t know if I like her like that anymore.”

“Why not?” Korra thought she masked the disbelief and exasperation in her tone pretty well. Too well actually, because Mako was now stepping towards her.

“Because…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he leaned in as if to kiss her and everything made way too much sense way too quickly. 

She shoved him away as soon as his lips grazed hers.

“What the hell?” Mako insisted, stumbling back, as if it were Korra that did something wrong.

“You’re asking me that?” Korra snapped, “You’re the one that tried to kiss me out of nowhere.”

Mako seemed genuinely confused at this. “You don’t like me?”

“I like you as a friend, sure,” Korra tried to relax a bit, but the thought of how much this would hurt Asami kept gnawing at the back of her head.

“Is there someone else?”

Korra scoffed and clenched her fists. Mako was so lucky she hadn’t hit him yet. “Did you even think about Asami before coming in here?”

Mako was getting angry now, his stupid eyebrows drawn into an even deeper frown than usual and he was back in Korra’s space. “I just told you, her and I are friends, it’s fine. Now answer my question.”

“Mako even if there was someone it wouldn’t matter. I can’t let you hurt her like this.” Korra had planned for that last line to hold more venom, and maybe even punch him when she was done with it, but instead her voice cracked and the tension in her body dissipated.

Mako was standing stock still now, his eyes had gone wide and his posture was more rigid than she’d ever seen him. She was afraid he might erupt at any moment, and she wasn’t even sure what that would entail. But he didn’t. He turned and walked away, leaving Korra alone in the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I have a couple things I need to say about this:
> 
> 1\. Idk why I made Lin own an ice cream shop I just felt like she had to be included in this fic somehow.
> 
> 2\. I have nothing against Mako, he's fine, I just needed this to happen cause plot and conflict and all that jazz.
> 
> 3\. The last scene was gonna be like the one in the half of it but I decided to change it slightly cause I have plans, and honestly at this point it is so far from the movie that was just inspiration not what the plot is following.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed!!! Have a wonderful day :)


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